by Jay Boyce
Sighing, Jade shook her head and glanced up at the curious faces around her. “My senses have been a bit enhanced, so it’s just…loud.” She wondered if she was going to have a future aversion to crunchy foods because of this. Just the thought of it made her cringe a bit. She had no desire to give up all the delicious crunchiness! She absently wondered if there was a way to deactivate keen senses when she didn’t want to be disturbed…
She reached the conclusion that there was nothing to be done but get used to it. Her senses being enhanced was a physical alteration, not some state that could be turned on and off at will. Disgruntled, she still managed to smile brightly at Estelle as she brought her plates over with her helper. They served her and Victor, whom she hadn’t noticed slipping into a seat at the table in her preoccupation.
“Here you are, sweetheart,” Estelle said cheerfully, setting her food down with a flourish.
“Thank you so much, Estelle! I have one request for the near future, however. Can you cut down on crunchy foods for the time being? My hearing has gotten better, and I’m not sure how to deal with the crunching in my head.”
Estelle looked at her with something akin to pity. “Of course, deary. I’ll keep that in mind. Enjoy your meal.”
“Thanks again!” Jade called after her, her countenance having brightened significantly with her own food in front of her. Thankfully, there weren’t that many crunchy things, but she just interspersed them with other foods so she wasn’t overwhelmed after setting aside the usual plate of juice and greens for her babies. Still, she could feel her brain pounding a little bit by the end of the meal. Everyone had been talking around her, and she just let the burble of voices wash over her.
They had tried a couple of times to bring her into the conversation as she ate, but she was almost robotic, just eating her food single-mindedly. They had stopped upon getting no response and realizing her attention was far away from the table. In truth, the pounding of her head had made thinking almost impossible, and the conversations sounded like a banging cacophony in her head, all noise and no sense.
It was as she finished that she belatedly realized she could heal herself, letting the magic flood through her veins and brain, through eyes and ears. The inflammation she found there receded, her body returning to a normal state. With it, she realized that her keen senses had been heightened to a painful degree when swollen, but it was down to a much more acceptable level that was just more clear than it had been before now that she was healed.
“Are you back with us?” Stephen’s voice interrupted her musings, and she glanced at him in startlement.
“Yes? Ah, did you need something?” She was shooting covert glances around the table, trying to pick up on some residual hint as to what they might have said to her. Doing so allowed her to notice two new additions to the table: Kevin and Seamus. They didn’t have any food in front of them, but they were studying her closely. Seamus was glaring at her from beneath his emo bangs, as if truly upset to be in her presence. Kevin just looked thoughtful.
“This is a waste of time. She’s crazy,” Seamus’ pessimistic mutter was soft, but it came through clearly to her heightened awareness. She heard him grunt as someone, likely Kevin, either hit or kicked him beneath the table and a flash of pain flew across his deep brown eyes, or what was visible of them, in any case.
Giving Seamus her full attention, she smiled and shrugged. “I can’t say I blame you for thinking that, but my being oblivious to the world wasn’t because I’m crazy, but because I had a massive headache that I just managed to heal. My eyes, ears, and brain were all inflamed, and because my thinking process was slowed, I only just thought to heal myself.” She paused, ignoring his look of shock that she’d heard his mutter, then turned to Kevin. “Anyway, I assume you’re here because you’ve made a decision?”
Kevin nodded slowly. “I have. I talked to my family and they think I should go through with it.”
She frowned. “I understand. Can I have a private word with you?” He looked confused but nodded. She motioned everyone else down who tried to stand up to help as she quickly moved to his side, supporting half his weight easily as they left the dining area. Hushed whispers of speculation started as soon as they thought she was out of earshot, though she heard most of them anyway thanks to her new keen ability.
When they got outside, she closed the door to the room behind her as she led him to the side, where there was a bench. They both sat down as she looked at her hands for a moment, then up at him. “I won’t do it.”
He grunted in outrage, obviously fuming at her quiet statement. “Why in the heavens not? You’re the one who offered to do it! I already told you I’d go through with it!”
She smiled sadly at him. “I want to do it for you, and your family wants you to do it. But what do you really want? It’s not me or your family that’re taking the risk—it’s you. I know you come from a military family, and I’m sure they’d like nothing more than to have their family member back whole. But it’s not them I’m doing it for. It’s you. So I want you to think about this, and…” She paused, hesitating. She didn’t want to do this, but she needed to know.
Layering her voice with a hint of hypnotism and compulsion, she finished, “Tell me the truth. What do you want to do about your foot?” She felt dirty. She didn’t like laying compulsion on humans. It felt wrong, like she was tainting her soul. However, in order to determine if he was doing this of his own free will and choice, she had…taken away his free will and choice. Guilt gnawed at her gut in the silence of her hypocrisy.
He was staring at the stars, until finally he reached down and tapped his foot. “I’ve gotten used to this, but it’s not the same. I used to love running, jumping, hunting, being able to do the things that made my family proud. The freedom of being whole and uncaring, thinking I was invincible. I’ve come to miss the things I took for granted before. I can’t go to morning practice or the courses because I can only glare bitterly at the people who can do what I can’t anymore. I’d given up hope for that world, for that freedom, and then you came along. The odds you gave me terrify me. I don’t want to die, but I do want to really live again. So yes, I talked to my family, but I made the decision. Nothing in this life is without a cost or a risk. I’m willing to take the risk to get my life back. I want to do this, for myself.”
Jade had nodded during his story, silently encouraging him to continue. When he finished his introspection that she’d forced him to voice aloud, she smiled, patting him on the shoulder. “Alright. I’m sorry for making you tell me that, but I had to be sure that neither I nor your family and friends had pressured you into the choice.” Well, they had probably influenced him, but he did at least make it himself.
She paused, quickly pulling up something mentally to make sure, then went on. “I honestly think the odds are a bit higher than I told you yesterday, but that’s because I’ve had a few things happen today and my healing broke into the advanced rank. Between that and the increase in my magic overall, things should hopefully go more smoothly than I predicted. I’ll contact Mike and Scylla tonight to make sure they can be there tomorrow. We’ll start right after dinner. Between now and then, as I mentioned before, I need you to eat as much as you can possibly stuff into your body.”
“I can do that. Thank you. Is it okay if my family comes?” His voice came through hesitantly.
She smiled. “Of course they can come. It’ll be good for you to have someone to hold onto.” And hold on he would, or maybe they’d be the ones holding on to him. While she could put him out for the surgery, she wasn’t going to. He needed to be awake to ingest more as necessary so that he didn’t go into withdrawal like she had. She also didn’t want to numb the area because she needed to make sure the nerves were connected and working properly… Well, maybe she could numb it and just test after, then tweak. Still, the pain of having nutrients drawn to feed the change wasn’t something she could control.
The door opened behind them, and she tu
rned to see Stephen coming out, her babies fluttering in tow. She raised a brow as he asked, “Sorry, did I interrupt? I was just heading up to my classroom to make sure everything was ready.”
Kevin shook his sandy brown head as she said, “No, it’s fine. We were just finishing.” She glanced back at Kevin. “Where are you headed next? Do you need help?”
He laughed a bit self-deprecatingly as he said, “I’ll manage. Seamus will come out looking for me soon. Go on.” He made a shooing motion, and she smiled wistfully at him. He was being so very brave about all of this, despite his fear and misgivings. She supposed that was what courage was. It wasn’t not being afraid of anything, it was facing your fears to overcome them.
It was something she needed to keep firmly in mind in the next few hours, given that she was about to go learn how to manipulate the darkness, something that she wasn’t quite comfortable with. She leaned over, kissing a surprised Kevin on the cheek as she hummed happily, “I’ll see you tomorrow. Remember what I said!”
Bouncing up from the bench, she noted the slight frown on Stephen’s face as she looped her arm through his and started towing him towards Magnus so he wouldn’t make Kevin uncomfortable. Giving up, Stephen led her towards her classroom as she asked cheerfully, “Hey, so I need to send a message to Scylla and Mike. You don’t have one of your minions around that could do that for me, do you?”
He was looking rather bemused now. “Minions? Just who do you think I am?”
She laughed softly. “A very resourceful spymaster. Now do you, or do you not, have a way for me to get word to Mike and Scylla? If you don’t, I need to find some other way to track them down.”
Stephen shook his head in exasperation. “I’ve got message mirrors in my bag that I can use to get word to them. I’ll pull them out once we get to my room.”
“Perfect!”
Silently, she added, Don’t worry Kevin. I’ll tilt the odds until they’re in your favor.
Chapter Forty-Three – Innocence
The darkness was growing deeper around them as they walked towards Magnus and Jade had to forcefully repress a shiver. She wanted to light up the world around her, but stopped herself. She needed her own courage to face the darkness. Forcing her breathing to slow down, she nevertheless heaved a small sigh of relief when they entered the building with its constant glass balls spaced throughout the hallways.
They stopped by her workshop only long enough to leave her babies there to play with an admonishment to be good. She pulled out more food for the caged flock she still hadn’t returned, quickly putting it into their cage with a promise that she’d come back after her lesson to let them out for a little bit.
Moving down the hall to the darkness classroom, Jade sighed when he opened the door and produced a single glass ball as light, which he put on his desk. She was again relieved when he pulled out a few more, lending the room light but also casting more shadows from the overlap. He pulled out two mirrors, beckoning her closer.
He offered them to her silently and she took them with a grateful smile before activating them with her magic. It seemed ages but was only a few seconds before both sides picked up, and she could see Mike and Scylla’s faces respectively. She smiled down at them as Mike asked curiously, “Isn’t this Stephen’s mirror?”
Jade laughed softly. “It is. He’s letting me borrow it to talk to you two.”
“Two? Was that Mike’s voice I heard?” Scylla asked querulously.
“Scylla?” Mike asked in return, as if trying to be sure who he’d heard.
Nodding, Jade went on, “Yes, I’ve called both of you at the same time, sorry. I figured it might be easier to just explain it once.”
“Explain what? Are you having problems again?” Scylla interrupted her again.
“Problems? Are your growth spurts causing you problems?” Mike interjected too.
Stephen burst into laughter behind her, and she turned to give him a brief exasperated glare before she turned back to the two healers in the mirror. “No, I’m perfectly fine. I was calling to ask if you could come to a healing tomorrow night.”
“You’ve scheduled a healing? Whatever for?” Mike asked, obviously perplexed.
“What’s this about a schedule? Oh, hello, Jade, aren’t you looking lovely! You should come stop by the shop. I’d love to have another chat sometime to see how you’re getting on,” Elisa’s kind voice had come through as she literally plucked the glass from Mike’s hand when she realized who was on the other side. Mike quickly pulled the mirror back so that they were both in view now because he was more interested in her response.
Jade smiled fondly at the older woman. She had been one of the first people to truly take her under their wing and explain things to her, so she’d always have a special place in Jade’s heart for her unwavering kindness. “Hello, Elisa. I’d be happy to come visit sometime, and I’m sorry I haven’t stopped by. It’s been a bit of a long week, but the reason I called everyone up is that I’m going to attempt to heal Kevin Elliot’s foot.” She paused for a moment, realizing the only reason she knew his last name was because of her siphoning. Distracted, she almost missed their response.
“That poor boy? It can’t be healed, darling. We’ve tried.” Scylla’s voice was calm as she pronounced her verdict, and Jade could see Mike and Elisa nodding in their mirror.
Frowning, she shook her head. “Actually, I think it can. In my old world, they grew organs. I think with my healing magic, I can accomplish something similar, but it needs to be a fresh wound. So I’m going to have to cut off about two inches of his leg so that I get rid of everything that healed wrong, then cause it to grow back at a cellular level. The thing I’m most worried about is the shock to his system and blood loss. I always stimulate the regeneration of blood when I heal those who’ve lost it, but the energy drain will be immense. I was hoping the two of you would join me as a bit of an extra measure against anything going wrong.”
Everyone was quiet, pondering over what she’d just said. Finally, it was Mike who asked, “You really think you can do this?” She nodded. “Then I’ll be there to see it. If we can do as you said, it would be a wonderful thing. What time do you want me there?”
Jade smiled beautifically at him as she responded, “We’ll do it right after dinner in my workshop.”
Scylla cut in, “No no, we’ll do it at the infirmary. There’s more space. I’m also going to invite Cody over or we’ll never hear the end of his whining that we didn’t ask him to come see healing history be made!”
“Cody?” Jade’s voice was curious, and she glanced back at Stephen.
He stepped forward, telling her quietly as Scylla and Mike were holding a conversation between themselves in the mirrors, “He’s the palace healer.”
“Oh.” She nodded, then turned back to the mirror.
“So the three of us will be there with our apprentices,” Mike announced.
“Apprentices?” Jade was confused.
“Of course! You didn’t think we were the only ones in town who could heal, did you?” Jade didn’t say anything because that’s exactly what she’d thought. Scylla obviously saw her confession on her face as she continued, “We may be the best, but we aren’t the only ones. We’ve trained up all the healers who’ve come through in the last twenty years. Still, there aren’t so many of us, but there’s a whole lot of city for only three people to cover. Just imagine, only three of us! We’d be overwhelmed in an instant! No, we’ll gather those who are in the city. The portal opens to Abhain tomorrow. I’ll check and see who’s around there.”
Jade winced a bit. “I understand you want to have them present, but perhaps we should keep it to those in the city for now. Kevin’s family is coming as well, so we don’t want to make it too crowded, and I don’t want to make him uncomfortable. Nor do I want to have all the healers unavailable for emergencies.”
Mike nodded slowly. “That makes sense. Alright then, we’ll just bring our best, since they’re the only ones
likely to be able to have a chance at replicating it.” She nodded, and he smiled at her with his handsome Clooney-esque looks. “We’ll see you tomorrow, unless you have something else you need to discuss?”
“No, that was everything,” she replied back quickly. “Thanks for your time, and you both have wonderful nights!”
“I’m sure we will, dearie, I’m sure we will.” Scylla smiled benignly at her before the mirror winked off. Mike and Elisa likewise bid her goodnight and closed the connection.
Jade sat back, her muscles relaxing in relief. She only now realized how tense she had been, hoping that they would understand and agree to come. She was even glad for the other healers they were inviting. In her opinion, the more knowledge was spread, the better. The more healers that were there, the lower the chance there would be that everyone missed something vital and things could go horribly wrong. Plus, if they could take turns bolstering Kevin…
She was lost in thought when the door opened. She glanced up but didn’t see anyone. She turned to look at Stephen, only to see a figure lunging out of the shadows at him, calling gleefully, “Got you!”
“No!” Jade cried out in alarm, throwing her arm out. From it issued a pure stream of wind that blasted out, smashing into the assailant and throwing them into the wall, where they hit their head and back with a loud crack, falling and slumping to the ground.
“Jade, no! Is he still alive?” Stephen looked seriously alarmed as he ran to check on the ‘assailant’ and she felt the blood pounding in her ears, almost making it hard for her to hear him. “Come heal him, right now!” Stephen was yelling at her, and she stared at him in confusion, her body still pounding with adrenaline. He got up, grabbing her arm and pulling her over to the–he looked like an older boy? “Heal him, NOW!” Stephen all but shouted directly into her ear.
Wincing, she belatedly put her hand on the boy-man, a sinking feeling in her stomach as she felt the damage she had done. Thankfully she’d just knocked him out and not done any lasting damage. She was horrified to think she could have killed someone accidentally because they startled her, because from Stephen’s anger and evident worry, this was someone he knew and cared about deeply.
